Penang Invasion (Part 2)

Going through the pictures again one-by-one just made me realized that what Adillah said about my style of taking pictures is true. (1) I like to capture landscape pictures and (2) I like to take pictures senget (tilted). So when you come across any senget pictures, that would be me with the camera.

Anyway, we only visited the Botanical Garden on the first day since we arrived in Penang close to 3pm. Can't really go anywhere else since they would be mostly closed. We actually walked from the garden all the way to Gurney Drive for dinner, approximately an hour's walk (few kilometers). Burn calories to eat more calories. So no win, no loss.

The very next day...

Second Stop: Khoo Kongsi


Again, we walked from YMCA to Georgetown. Yes, we are nuts. Blame it on Monash air :P

But the air isn't as dirty or smokey as the ones we breathe in KL. We took probably almost two hours to find this place. Turning corner after corner, walking road after road. Asked some uncle for directions and he replied me in Hokkien much to my dismay. Had to send an urgent "S.O.S." signal to suzan via optical communication.

I would say the three of us were quite a good combination. Suzan understood and spoke Hokkien. Adillah, having been educated in Langkawi, understood the northern Malay accent. And I understood and spoke Mandarin. So in whatever language the locals reply, one of us would be able to manage. Unless of course, the person spoke to us in Tamil. Then we're in big trouble.


Basically, there are many kongsi's in Penang - Cheah, Yeoh, Lim, Tan, etc. These kongsi-kongsi are built by these clans - whereby the bigger it is, the more magnificent it is. The more magnificent it is, the more rich and glamour your clan is. The more rich and glamour your clan is, the higher your status. The higher your status, the more powerful you are.

In other words, kiasu lah.


The biggest and the most popular kongsi in Penang happens to be Khoo Kongsi. It is really huge. And really, really (I can't stress enough) difficult to find. There are 5 big halls - 3 of them were filled with furnitures, details of genealogy, history, items.. while the other two were infested with wooden signboards all over the walls detailing descendants of the clan and their achievements. The main hall has all the papan-papan nisan in there. Papan nisan made of gold... don't play-play.


Found this mural in the hallway just behind the main hall. Don't know if this picture actually tells a real story. There wasn't really a guide there though. It was more of a self-exploring kind of place. Hence we didn't spend much time here.


Some of the old buildings we saw on our way out. It's a long way in to the Khoo Kongsi main building from the entrance.